10 Major Plot Holes that Classic TV Writers Didn’t Bother to Fix

‘MAMA’ ACTUALLY DIES BEFORE SHE GETS HER OWN SHOWIn a recent interview with Las Vegas Magazine, actress Vicki Lawrence had a little laugh recalling that her famous 1983 spin-off Mama’s Family started after Mama’s funeral already happened on TV in 1982. In the made-for-TV movie Eunice, Thelma Harper is said to have died in 1978, but TV audiences didn’t seem to notice or care when she came back to life on NBC in the early 1980s. They likely took a page from Mama’s book and sighed, “Oh, I’d rather not talk about it.”

CAN’T ANYONE REMEMBER BARNEY FIFE’S MIDDLE NAME?For the majority of The Andy Griffith Show’s run, Don Knotts’ character introduces himself as “Barney P. Fife.” However, this changes at least twice. In “A Plaque for Mayberry,” his middle name is Oliver, and in “Class Reunion,” it changes to Milton. That explains why Wikipedia makes his name look like such a mouthful: Bernard “Barney” P. Milton Oliver Fife.

THEY ALSO COULDN’T DECIDE HOW LONG BARNEY’S BEEN DEPUTY SHERIFF.Between seasons 4 and 5 of The Andy Griffith Show, writers seemed to get hazy on how long Barney Fife had been Deputy Sheriff. In the episode “Citizen’s Arrest,” Andy recalls welcoming Barney to the force 10 years ago, but by season 5’s “Barney’s Physical,” writers must have assumed Barney had been Deputy Sheriff as long as the show had been on air. In that episode, Barney celebrates his 5-year anniversary as Deputy Sheriff, getting a commemorative watch with the sketchy number of years etched inside.